Israel and Iran crisis latest: US aids Israel to shoot down Iran’s retaliatory missile attack

We have concluded our coverage of the Israel and Iran crisis latest for today, please check back through the blog for previous updates from the day.

State television reported on Saturday that Two senior Iranian generals have been killed in Israeli strikes.

The broadcaster said that General Gholamreza Mehrabi, deputy head of intelligence of the armed forces general staff, and General Mehdi Rabbani, deputy head of operations, “were martyred.”

Jordan’s civil aviation commission says its airspace has been reopened.

The move comes a day after the commission suspended flights amid Israel-Iran tensions.

Jordanian Government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said the country would not allow its airspace to be violated, nor would it “be a battlefield for any conflict”.

Israeli fighter jets have reportedly bombed an army base in the city of Zanjan, about 325km from Tehran in northern Iran, according to UK-based outlet Iran International.

Footage published by the outlet shows thick smoke and a fire raging hours after the attack.

Following a fresh assessment, the IDF says it has called up the headquarters of the 146th Reserve Division, along with the Iron Fist and Etzioni reserve brigades, to serve as backup forces for “various scenarios” on the northern border.

Several other reserve battalions were called up and deployed to the Lebanon and Syria borders, the IDF added.

The Israeli military said Saturday its air force targeted Iran’s air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area overnight.

“Overnight, the IAF struck dozens of targets, including surface-to-air missile infrastructure, as part of the effort to damage the Iranian regime’s aerial defence capabilities in the area of Tehran,” the military said in a statement.

“For the first time since the beginning of the war, over 1,500 kms from Israeli territory, the IAF (Israeli military) struck defence arrays in the area of Tehran.”

Iranian forces shot down Israeli drones on a reconnaissance mission over the north-west, state media reported, as exchanges of fire between the two sides continued.

“Islamic fighters (Iranian forces) in the Salmas border region successfully shot down Israeli drones that had violated the country’s airspace,” state television said, adding that the “drones had entered Iranian airspace on espionage and reconnaissance missions”.

Israel’s military said it has intercepted a number of aerial drones over the country’s central region.

The drones were detected and air raid alerts were activated in several areas of the country, the military said.

No details were given on possible damage, casualties or where the drones originated.

“No to war, no to fascism, no to neo-Nazi Zionism,” he said.

Mr Maduro also accused France, Germany, Britain and the US of supporting “the 21st-century Hitler”, referring to Prime Minister Netanyahu, “against the noble and peaceful Iranian people”.

At least three people have died and dozens more have been wounded after at least one Iranian missile slipped through Israel’s lauded “iron dome” defence system, striking in residential areas, AP reports.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: “We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.”

Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. Iranians awoke Saturday morning to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets.